FERRY DISASTER

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 July 1946, Page 8

FERRY DISASTER

MISSISSIPPI VESSEL CAPSIZES * PASSENGERS TRAPPED NEW YORK, July 29. Is Js estimated that between seven and 12 persons lost when half a dozen motor vehicles, with their drivers and passengers, plunged into water 70ft. deep near Carrlithersville, Missouri. The ferry on which the vehicles were being transported across the Mississippi capsized after colliding with a river train consisting of two linked oil barges pushed by two linked tugs. The barges picked up 11 survivors and threw out life preservers to others who were* swimming in the riyer. Rescuers also worked from the shore, on which spotlights were hastily rigged.

A five-year-old boy died in his mother’s arms after she had brought him ashore. His six-year-old brother is believed to have been drowned. His father, who was holding him at the time of the collision, reported that he was lost under a barge. One survivor said that he, two women, and another, man were thrown into the water in a closed car. He kicked open a window and tried to pull a women companion out after him, but her clothing caught on broken glass and she was drowned. Divers are being sent to the scene to search for bodies in the sunken vehicles.